The present invention is directed to the field of photo processing and, more particularly, to the selection of photographic images for printing.
A number of systems have been proposed for electronic processing of prints. These include Kodak""s Creat-a-Print, where the operator goes to a photo store or mini lab location, inserts his negatives, and zooms and crops or enlarges the image prior to printing. Other systems, like Kodak""s Image Magic, provide for a combination of a stored image with that of a xe2x80x9clivexe2x80x9d image of the customer, for prints which have been cropped and composed at a theme park. In addition, Photo CD(trademark) provides a method for putting selected images at full 35 mm film resolution on a Photo CD(trademark) disc.
Often, however, a consumer faces a problem in that he has received a number of prints from a photo dealer or in the mail from a photo finisher and he wishes to send additional copies of these prints to other friends or relatives, or receive additional copies for himself.
In traditional photo processing environments, there has always been the difficulty of determining which photographic negative contains the image of choice. The customer often has difficulty determining which photographic negative contains the image of choice. Also, the customer often has difficulty interpreting the negative as it would appear when printed. The customer must identify the images of interest on the negative by identifying each negative to the prints he wants. He must then return the negative to the mini lab, photo store, or photo processor, either in person or by mail, and then must specify the size and number of each print. He must then wait for the new prints to be made and then obtain these prints from the drug store, mini lab, or photo finisher.
There are a number of problems with this approach. For instance, the sensitive film negative must be handled multiple times by the customer, adding a potential for scratching, fingerprinting, and otherwise damaging the film. Also, the sleeve must be written on to convey the ordering information. This works well if the customer does not insert the negatives into the sleeve before writing on it. Otherwise, there is a potential for damaging the film by writing on the sleeve while the film is within. There is also a potential for improper recording of data. Furthermore, the small negative image is not easily identifiable by the customer, particularly when there are several similar images. Another problem is that the images on the film do not always line up well with the preflashed numbers on the edge of the film. The customer is often confused as to whether an image is xe2x80x9cnumber 9xe2x80x9d, number xe2x80x9c9Axe2x80x9d, or number xe2x80x9c10xe2x80x9d. This confusion can result in selection of the wrong images for reprint.
Recently, in an attempt to facilitate the process of ordering photographic reprints, customers have been supplied with an index print containing a number of miniature images along with an associated index number corresponding to the frame number on the film. Customers return the negatives bearing the images corresponding to the desired reprints to the photofinisher and indicate the desired frame number from the index print for reprints. Although this approach represents an improvement over prior techniques, it still has the drawback of having the customers handle the negatives, which can become soiled, damaged or lost while in the possession of the customer. When a customer does order reprints, the negatives may be stored haphazardly and apart from the original prints, making the negatives difficult to retrieve at a later date. Finally, this somewhat arduous process of obtaining additional prints provides little impetus for reprints. The inconvenience of ordering is a barrier to ordering reprints.
It is seen then that it would be desirable to have an improved system and method for facilitating ordering and re-ordering of prints from negatives or slides.
The present invention is a system for facilitating ordering of prints from negatives or slides, and enables a customer to select size, destination, text, frames and other options associated with photographic prints. The present invention streamlines the previously inconvenient means of selecting and ordering photographic reprints.
The present invention relates to a method for remotely selecting photographic prints by a customer with respect to a plurality of digital images stored by a digital image center, comprising the steps of, storing a plurality of digital images at a digital image center, producing an index having a visual representation of each of the plurality of stored digital images, providing the index to a customer at a remote location from the digital image center, facilitating electronically ordering of a photographic print over a communication network by a customer using an index at a remote location, producing the photographic print using one of the stored digital images in response to the ordering and delivering of the photographic print to a customer.
According to the present invention, an index print is created by scanning the customer""s negatives or slides before they are returned, and the digital images created from these negatives or slides are stored on a portable hard drive or other storage device, for later retrieval and service orders. The customer may select images and services to be performed using the index print and a touch tone telephone. Alternatively, a computer/voice ordering system could take the reprint/original print order by means of references to the index print.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system and method for facilitating ordering and re-ordering of prints from negatives or slides. It is a further object of the present invention to enable a photographer to select size, destination, text, frames and other options associated with photographic prints. It is an advantage of the present invention that the previously inconvenient means of selecting and ordering photographic prints and reprints is streamlined.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description, the accompanying drawings and the appended claims.